


Winchester-Harvelle

by Pineprin137



Series: Dean and Jo [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Brotherly Love, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 13:08:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18621256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pineprin137/pseuds/Pineprin137
Summary: Dean isn't handling his impending fatherhood well, but his brother has his back.





	Winchester-Harvelle

**Author's Note:**

> The characters and story belong to Eric and the CW, I just borrowed them for a bit.

“She alright in there?” Dean glanced at his brother before returning his gaze to the front door of the diner. They were on their way back home from the latest hunt but decided to stop for a bite to eat. To be honest, Dean was dying for a break but he would never tell his two passengers that. The werewolf pack went down pretty easily, but the toll it took on her was evident. Her usual snark was missing in the silent ride and he caught her eyes glistening with unshed tears several times the last few days. He was concerned about the change in her disposition and just wanted to get her home so he could take care of her. 

“I doubt it. She hasn’t been handling spicy food too well lately and she dumped half a bottle of hot sauce on her eggs.” He ran a hand over his face and leaned a little more heavily against the Impala. He tried to remember the last time she ate something without bringing it right back up a few hours later. She was as tough as they come, but the pregnancy had been hard on both of them. 

Sam cleared his throat and nodded towards the glass door where a petite blonde was exiting the building. Dean watched as she made her way over to them. One hand was resting lightly on her abdomen and her face was still pale, but her eyes were determined. He offered a sad smile and opened the passenger door for her. He heard Sam open up the back door and slide in, but his focus was on her. She looked up at him for just a moment before she joined Sam in the car. Dean pushed the heavy door shut as gently as he could then walked over to get in.

A few hours later found Sam dozing in the backseat and Dean’s mind occupied with thoughts about the beautiful woman sitting next to him. There was a point in his teen years when he knew he would never have a family. Dad and Sam would be it for him. He had been okay with it. He understood the hunter life wasn’t made for raising a family. His dad had instilled in him a great sense of responsibility to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves. Saving people and hunting things was who he was. He only needed the occasional one-night fling to satisfy his need for more. Until her. 

She whimpered in her sleep and he frowned trying to decipher if he needed to pull over or if it was another nightmare. She hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in almost two months. Ever since they found out about the baby, his nights were spent comforting her or trying to wake her whilst she flailed and screamed. She would usually quiet if he pulled her into his arms and spoke to her. She told him that his voice was a focal point for her. On the nights when that didn’t work, he would have to pin her arms to the bed, unless he wanted to end up with another black eye and yell her name until she finally opened her eyes. She would pant into his chest and he would hold her until the tears stopped. 

He checked on his brother in the rearview mirror and thanked God he still slept. Sam was up almost as much as Dean those nights. He would hesitate at the doorway to Dean’s room until he could nod over her head at his little brother. Once or twice though he had been forced to summon his brother to help hold her when she panicked after waking. Sam had kept her loosely pinned against the bed while Dean grasped her face and forced her to meet his eyes. It had taken almost two hours to bring her out of that one and Sam had stayed the entire time. First helping restrain her, then offering his brother support with a hand to his shoulder. He ended up holding a silent vigil in the corner of the room while Dean shushed her and coaxed her back to sleep. 

He checked her sleeping form one more time before allowing himself to massage at the back of his neck and rolling his shoulders. He had kept a small injury from her and Sam and now his right shoulder was starting to complain about his stiff posture. They had no idea that during his “shower” earlier this morning he had cleaned and stitched up the deep gash. He didn’t mind it too much right now. The slight pain kept him alert and he would let Sam tear him a new one later when he revealed his injury. For now, he pulled a small bottle out of his jacket pocket and popped two pills out before snagging the bottle of water on the seat and washing them down. 

It was probably about a half hour later when he heard her groan. A sound he was very familiar with by this point in her pregnancy. He eased the car onto the shoulder and put it in Park. He let the Impala idle while he got out and went around to her side. When he opened her door he saw that her eyes were clenched shut and she was panting. He sighed at the image before him. She was trying desperately to hold on to sleep, but her body was trying to force her awake to deal with her grumbling stomach. 

He laid a hand on her shoulder and rubbed his thumb on her neck. She groaned again and turned into his gentle touch. One of her hands fisted on her thigh and the other reached to him and curled into his jacket. He leaned forward from his crouch and kissed her temple. “Make it stop, please.” He swallowed hard at the weak plea. Instead of reassuring her, he slid his arm around her and eased her out of the car. He caught Sam’s sympathetic gaze from the back seat as he led her to the grass and held her against his chest. She was fighting against the impending sickness, jerking against him with deep hiccups. He heard her cough and glanced down at her. One hand released the hold on him to cover her mouth as she jerked again. He carefully turned her around and gathered her loose hair into his fist. She had pulled it down after returning from the diner earlier. 

She slowly bent over and he began smoothing one large hand up and down her back. He heard the Impala’s door creak in the background and then the crunch of his brother’s boots as he walked to the trunk. He held her as the coughs got deeper and rougher before she finally gave in and her heard the splatter of partially digested food into the weeds. His brother leaned against the car with a bag of baby wipes in one hand and a fresh bottle of water in the other. Luckily she didn’t have much in her stomach so this bout of sickness was brief. After she was done, he took the offered water from Sam and held it out to her. She took it with a shaky hand and used it to rinse her mouth. Then she pulled out a wet wipe to clean her face and hands. She cleared her throat and spit into the dark one last time before rising back up. She sniffed and let out a small huff of breath before facing them. 

Dean used gentle fingers to wipe away the tears on her face as Sam gathered up the discarded items and stuffed them into a plastic bag which he tied and set on the floor of the backseat. He raised his eyebrows at her in a silent question and she nodded. He led her back to the car and got her settled before getting behind the wheel and easing the Impala back onto the empty highway. 

  
  


Dean released a sigh when Sam pulled the car into the driveway two hours later. They only stopped once more so the boys could switch positions. Dean stretched out in the back while she leaned against him and snored softly. He winced at the pull in his shoulder but kept his arm around her. He raised his eyes from her and met the concerned looks of the older couple standing on the porch. He sighed again and then eased out from under her and opened the door. He got out and stretched before leaning down and lifting her from the car. Sam grabbed their bags from the trunk and then led the way to the house. Bobby held the screen door open while Dean carried her through and Ellen shadowed him all the way to the couch. Once he laid her daughter down she pulled him into a tight hug. He welcomed her touch and relaxed against her. 

He could hear Sam and Bobby conversing in the kitchen, his brother attempting to answer all of Bobby’s gruff inquiries about the hunt and Jo’s condition. Dean leaned down and combed her hair off of her face, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. Then he stood back up and made his way down the hall to the bathroom. He closed the door and leaned against the sink as his shoulder throbbed. The skin was pulled tight and he could feel the gentle heat radiating from the injury. Now that he was out of the car and in private he allowed himself to give in to the pain for a few minutes. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fingers around the edge of the sink as a way of dizziness washed over him. He didn’t think he made any sound, but a knock on the door came and he pushed his misery back down before opening it and facing Sam. 

“You going to let me look at it now?” Dean attempted to roll his eyes at his little brother’s observation skills and almost fell to the floor when his knees buckled. Sam grabbed him and led him to the toilet to sit down. Then he gathered supplies from the medicine cabinet and the basket from under the sink before easing Dean’s shirt off. He ignored his little brother’s glare when Sam saw the extent of the injury. “Dammit, Dean. Why didn’t you tell anyone you got scratched?” The scratch Sam referred to was actually an inch deep gouge that ran the length of his shoulder and down towards his collarbone. 

He tried to respond but ended up hissing when Sam pulled at the gauze covering it. Sam gave him a concerned glance and lightened his touch so it wouldn’t hurt so much. The wound was red and angry, no pus yet, but the heat was concerning. He kept still as Sam snipped the stitches, but when his brother began cleaning it he couldn’t hold back a moan. He clenched his eyes shut and gritted his teeth while Sam dabbed at it with alcohol and inspected the wound thoroughly. Once his bother had deemed it free of debris he smeared it with antibiotic cream and began to stitch it back up. Dean winced with each pull of the thread through his sensitive skin but didn’t dare squirm while Sam concentrated. Sam tied it off and then trimmed the end of the thread before wrapping it with clean gauze and offering Dean a cup of cold water. 

The whole time the brothers were in the bathroom Ellen had been standing at the door with a slightly annoyed look on her face. She waited until Sam finished lecturing him before she started in with her own. Dean stayed seated while she berated him for hiding the injury and putting everyone else’s comfort before himself. “You can’t just keep things from them, Dean. I won’t let you endanger her to save your own selfish pride.” His eyes narrowed and he looked up at that. 

“I would never put her in danger, Ellen. It was just a scratch and I knew I could handle it until we got back. If you honestly think that I would risk their lives just to save face, then you don’t know me at all.” He stood up and walked past her. She was surprised by his outburst and started to chastise him but held back when he gave her a hard look. He saw Jo sitting up on the couch and started towards her before noticing the disappointed look on her face and changing course to go upstairs. He was tired of defending himself to everyone and all he wanted now was to pass out on his bed and forget about everything for a few hours. 

Sam watched as his brother’s face fell and he retreated up the stairs. Dean wasn’t handling the pregnancy well emotionally and it was starting to take a toll on him. He could just make out the dark circles under his green eyes and the slump in his shoulders. Sam was used to Dean’s protective streak, but Jo and Ellen were still adjusting to it. They didn’t know what Sam did, hadn’t seen his brother’s determination when faced with a threat to Sam’s safety. Sam had overheard the exchange between Dean and Ellen and now he couldn’t quite keep the disbelief from his face when she came back into the room. When she raised her brows at him he just shook his head.

“Sam. Mom’s right. He wasn’t a hundred percent and he kept it to himself for at least a day.” He frowned down at Jo, took a deep breath, and defended his brother. 

“Yes, he did. He never asks for help. But we weren’t in any danger and for both of you to assume that he would allow that? Dean would never risk my life or your life. Besides, I knew he was hurt. He started favoring his left after the hunt and I guessed he hurt his shoulder again. I knew if it got too bad he would let me know. But for you to believe that he would let you get in harm’s way? That isn’t fair, Jo. He was brainwashed by our dad to put everyone in front of himself. So yes, he does keep things to himself. He hurts and holds it in until he can’t. But he would never allow his stubbornness to endanger someone else.” He had been addressing them both, but now he turned to Jo. “He wanted to get you home. He was worried about you, so he pushed aside his own pain to take care of you. It’s who he is. You will never change that, Jo. You just have to learn to accept that he never puts himself first. It’s my job to take care of  _ him _ . To make sure he doesn’t run himself into the ground. And I will. I won’t let my brother sacrifice himself again. He has been through hell, Jo. The last few years of our lives haven’t been kind to him. This pregnancy hasn’t been easy on him either, but he is trying to make you happy. He hasn’t slept through the night in weeks. He is exhausted. So can you really blame him for ignoring his misery to just try and get home?”  Sam didn’t wait for her answer just turned towards the stairs and went to check on his brother. 

Dean was face down on the bed in the guest bedroom. Either he hadn’t been able to make it to the master bedroom before sleep took him or he didn’t want to be around anything to do with Jo right now. Sam sighed and made his way over to his brother’s sleeping body. He unlaced Dean’s boots and set them on the floor before picking up the discarded jacket on the floor and placing it over the chair in the corner of the room. Someday his big brother was going to push it too far. Sam would find him broken and have to put the pieces back together. At first, he had thought Jo would be good for Dean. She brought out a sensitive side to his brother that Sam wasn’t sure he had ever seen. It wasn’t the same care he showed Sam throughout their childhood. It was more like the look in his eyes when he talked about Mom. It usually took a long night of drinking for his brother to open up about Mary, but when he did it was breathtaking. His green eyes would shine and he would laugh while recalling memories of baking pie with her or riding on her lap in the car while John drove. Sam wished he could remember her the way Dean did, but he wouldn’t even recognize her if Dean didn’t hold on to those old pictures. 

He sunk onto the end of Dean’s bed and ran a hand through his long hair. Jo had made his brother laugh. He watched his brother fall for her fiery spirit and gentle touches. And Sam had thought that Jo would be good for him. That she could stand by him and maybe even take a little of the weight from Sam’s shoulders. But then she got pregnant. At first, she didn’t want to tell Dean, she had planned to leave them and go back to Ellen. But then Sam found the test and Dean had flipped out. Sam knew his brother’s reaction was more shock and fear than anger, but Jo had yelled right back and driven Dean to flee with Sam and the Impala. 

They had driven for hours in silence before Dean wrenched the wheel and pulled them off the road. They had spent a while sitting on the hood, Dean clenching his jaw while fighting tears, and Sam waiting patiently for Dean to lean on him. He listened while Dean revealed his fears about raising a child in the life or turning into their father. Sam had assured him that he would never allow Dean to go down that road. His brother was nothing like John, he was a better man than their father could even dream of being. Dean wouldn’t abandon his children, he would die for them. 

After a manly pat on the shoulder from Sam and a derisive comment on chick-flick moments, he had called Jo and apologized. That was almost eight weeks ago. Since then the atmosphere between them was tense and guarded. Each of them fighting their own fear about impending parenthood and bickering over Jo being out in the field. Dean wanted her to take it easy and rest, but Jo was determined to pull her weight and insisted that even with a swollen belly she would still be able to shoot a gun. Sam was on Dean’s side, but he tried to stay out of it. This was between them, and he didn’t want to direct any more of their frustration his way. For now, Dean was winning his way due to Jo’s morning sickness and extreme exhaustion. She still helped with research and even interviewed witnesses, but when it came to the hard labor and actual dispatching of monsters, she was sidelined. 

He looked up at a rap on the doorframe and saw Bobby. The old hunter motioned for him to come out into the hallway so Sam got up and left his brother sleeping on the bed. 

“How’s he doing?” Bobby would argue that the boys were a pain in his side, neck, and rear if someone dared accuse him of being soft, but the reality was that he worried about them. They were tough as they come, but the brothers were human and they could only handle so much. 

“He’s sleeping. For now. I have a feeling Jo’s going to be staying with you guys when we take off tomorrow. I think they need a little space from each other. Jo needs rest and Dean needs a break from taking care of her.” He had already found another case on the drive back and he knew his brother would be itching to get going when he woke up. 

“You found a case?” Bobby kept his voice gruff to mask the concern he felt for the older Winchester. The boy was prone to pushing himself until he collapsed and it seemed like his impending fatherhood was driving him harder than ever. 

“Yeah, a vengeful spirit haunting a family in Wyoming. It looks pretty cut and dry so we should be back in a few days.” Bobby nodded at him. Maybe an easy hunt is just what the brothers needed. It would give Dean time to lean on his brother while Sam helped him work through his issues in private. He almost wished John was here so he could shake him for screwing up his son’s view of himself so bad. Dean was a hell of a man compared to John, and Bobby knew he would make a good father. But the boy doubted himself and feared that he would follow in his father’s footsteps. Other than a few bruises on skinny arms, Bobby had never actually seen John Winchester abuse his sons, but the signs were all there. Dean rarely had his shirt off in front of Bobby after John dropped them off even when they were working in the yard. Little Sammy would flinch if Bobby moved to fast around him and both of them apologized way more than necessary for little accidents and small scuffles. He had learned to take care of them silently. Offering his shoulder when he found Dean crying in the dark kitchen, or barely touching Sam when he bandaged his scraped knee. When he started to hug them each time they left it took a while for them to accept the caring gesture. Dean would go stiff in his arms and Sam would look to his brother with frightened eyes when Bobby hugged him. But he kept at it, and eventually, they reciprocated. 

“Bobby?” Sam was looking at him with concerned eyes. He must’ve drifted longer than he thought. It was easy to get lost in memories of the boys’ childhood. 

“Chili’s on the stove. Remind your idjit brother to eat when he gets his lazy butt out of bed.” With that, he turned and descended the stairs. 

Sam smirked at Bobby’s dismissal and turned back to the room. He moved his duffle to the floor after pulling out his laptop and headphones. Then he settled against the headboard next to Dean and continued researching the case while his brother slept. 

**Author's Note:**

> Sigh. My favorite pairing other than Sam and Dean is Dean and Jo. I was distraught when they killed her off, and so happy when Osiris brought her back for a little while. I threw in a little Bobby/Ellen because I think they were perfect for each other. 
> 
> This is what happens when writer's block hits while trying to work on the next chapter for Dean and Lisa. Can't say I'm too upset though ;)


End file.
